Renewing Digital Certificates

[Hannah_McDowell]

If you’re a Subscriber Manager/Administrator at a legal/conveyancing firm and have been informed of the need to renew Digital Certificates within your organisation, please access the online renewal form via the link below (we recommend you use Google Chrome for optimum performance):

Log in to pexaplus.com.au to renew Digital Certificates

• When selecting a link for the first time, it may be blocked in your address bar.
• In the address bar, click "Pop-up blocked."
• Select "Always allow pop-ups from [site]"
• Click "Done."

The online renewal form is housed within our new PEXAplus portal. PEXAplus is a new gateway to transacting property online and the beginning of a journey to provide you with a more engaging PEXA experience.

FAQs

Here are answers to your most frequently asked questions about Digital Certificate renewals. Can't find what you're looking for? Leave a comment and we'll get back to you.

How do I renew an expiring Digital Certificate?

Only Subscriber Managers/Administrators with an active Digital Certificate can renew Digital Certificates. Subscriber Managers/Administrators should access PEXAplus to view and action any upcoming expiries. We recommend you use Google Chrome for optimum performance. On submitting the renewal form, the Subscriber Manager/Administrator will be prompted to sign using their Digital Certificate. If you are not a Subscriber Manager/Administrator and have been informed that your Digital Certificate is expiring, you should get in touch with your Subscriber Manager/Administrator to submit a renewal form on your behalf.

Does it cost to renew a Digital Certificate?

Digital Certificate renewals submitted after 1 March 2019 will incur a renewal fee. Fees associated with the renewal of Digital Certificates after 1 March 2019 will be direct debited from your nominated fee paying account. Details of the renewal fees can be found in the Digital Signing Certificate Pricing Guide. 

How do I find out who my Subscriber Manager/Administrator is?

If you are unsure who the Subscriber Manager/Administrator is for your organisation (some organisations have more than one) and you are unable to find out via your colleagues, please contact our Support Centre on 1300 084 515.

Why can’t I see any Digital Certificates that require renewal WITHIN PEXAPLUS?

All Subscriber Managers/Administrators within an organisation are notified of the need to action upcoming renewals. If you log on to PEXAplus and no renewals are displayed, it is likely that another Subscriber Manager/Administrator within your organisation has already actioned the renewals.

How do I change the name or email for a Digital Certificate renewal?

Changes to the name and/or email address of a Digital Certificate holder are not currently supported by the online renewal process. If a Digital Certificate holder’s name and/or email address has changed, please contact your PEXA Direct Specialist who will arrange an appointment with the authorised signatories to execute a paper form. If you do not have a PEXA Direct Specialist, please contact our Support team on 1300 084 515.

Note: if a user’s email address has changed, they will need to create a new corresponding user account in PEXA so their PEXA login email matches the email address associated with their new Digital Certificate.

How do I begin signing with my new Digital Certificate?

Hard tokens

These Digital Certificates are stored on a USB token. To sign in a PEXA workspace, you simply need to insert the USB into your computer and enter your unique PIN when prompted. You’ll receive a separate letter containing your Digital Certificate PIN. For instructions on how to change your PIN, visit the e-Conveyancing Community at pexa.com.au/digicertpin

Soft tokens

These Digital Certificates are installed and stored on the Certificate holder’s machine. To sign in a PEXA workspace, PEXA will automatically locate the Soft Certificate on the user’s machine and prompt them to enter their unique PIN when signing. If you use a soft token, you’ll receive a CD that contains the User’s Soft Digital Certificate which needs to be inserted into a CD drive to run the Certificate installation process. A separate letter containing your Digital Certificate PIN will be received a day or so later. For instructions on how to change your PIN, visit the e-Conveyancing Community at pexa.com.au/digicertpin

Do I need to install software for my new Digital Certificate?

If you have already installed the software required to use a Digital Certificate on your current device, no further set up is needed. You will only need to install software if you would like to sign with your Digital Certificate on a new device. Installation instructions can be found at pexa.com.au/digicert

What should I do with my old Digital Certificate?

Your old Digital Certificate will remain valid up until the day of its expiry. Until this date, both your old and new Digital Certificates will be valid. It is your responsibility to destroy the chip within the USB shell of your old Digital Certificate. You should only do this once you have tested that your new Digital Certificate works.

How do I find out the expiry date of my old Digital Certificate?

If you are unsure of the date, contact our Support Centre on 1300 084 515.

How do I destroy my old Digital Certificate?

 1. Open the USB shell to a 90° angle and push the small white lever on the reverse side to release the chip

2. Remove the chip from the USB shell

3. Cut the chip into multiple pieces using scissors

[ChristineWaite]

I cannot find the digital certificate renewal form how do I find it?

Regards

Christine

[Hannah_McDowell]

Hi Christine, 

When you log on to PEXAplus, you should see a banner at the top which will take you to the Digital Certificate renewal form. Please try logging in again and let us know if the banner is not displaying for you.

Thanks,

Hannah

[DMc]

In case anyone else comes across the same issues.

Whilst pouring through my junk mail filter, I luckily discovered an email mentioning my Digital Certificate was up for renewal, it had some mention about having to log-in via 'plus.pexa.com.au' to renew via a link.

Being security conscious I phoned PEXA support to check if it might be a legit, email!

Advised in the affirmative.

I was able to ask for the login address, - since email was stripped by the email security and as such still looked dodgy!

Merely to find, there was no 'banner' nor 'renew link' for 'Renew Digital Certificates Here' in my pexa-plus portal.

So after another contact with phone support, a few days later it became available, but seemed to be after refreshing/clearing my browser cache...

But after clicking on the link to renew my certificate by the plugin of my digital certificate and clicking 'sign & submit' then entering my pin. it would present with the yellow circle around an exclamation mark saying 'Server Error', '...try again later, or contact PEXA support'.

After several unsuccessful attempts.

Another contact with PEXA phone support was able to email me the renewal paperwork!

[DMc]

To continue the experience...

I received my new Digital Certificate (DC) (AKA dongle) in the post, however, it did NOT mention that I needed to wait for a new PIN before testing it, only that one would issue separately, I did understand that I needed to test the new DC for operation before my old DC expires.

Also that I should then the process to destroy the old DC, by removal and cutting up of the SIM looking chip.

Testing process on live PEXA document first asks for a PIN -seemingly NOT the old one, would not accept my old PIN nor progress pass the PIN entry screen.

Switched back to old (unexpired) DC was able to seemingly successfully enter my old PIN

however the Workspace results in failure...

Was able to progress a little further by re-registering my old DC using the https://community.pexa.com.au/t5/Help-Centre/Installing-the-Digital-Certificate-Software/ba-p/167

now is briefly reports as 'signed' while a push notification/message says it failed... :/

Signed & failed at the same time......then not signed!

[Hannah_McDowell]

Hi @DMc - thank you for raising this and sorry for the confusion. We will revise the info postcard that accompanies Digital Certificate renewals to make it clear that your new PIN is required to test your new Digital Certificate.

As to the other issue you experienced, @GeorginaBenson from our Support Team will provide a response shortly.

[GeorginaBenson]

Hi Damien,

I believe this issue is stemming from the fact that your computer is trying to sign with the newest certificate that is "recognised". This is because certificates plugged into a computer are cached within the certificate store of your PC.

To rectify this, we need to remove any reference to your new certificate within the store, to allow you to sign with the old one.

Open your Start Menu, and search and open the program called Run.

In the box, type in certmgr.msc.

Open the folder called Personal, and remove the NEW certificate (expiring June 1, 2021).

Try and again sign, and you should be successful.

Thanks!

Georgina

[DMc]

Great, marvelous, Thank-you!  @GeorginaBenson & @Hannah_McDowell.

That sorted it to re-enable use of my old Digital Certificate.

I imagine I will need to do the same (by removing the non-use certificate from certmgr.msc cache) once I receive my new PIN So then I may try to test the new Digital Certificate?

[GeorginaBenson]

Hi Damien,

No, once your old certificate expires, it is considered null and does not need to be removed from the certificate store to be able to sign with your new digicert. You can remove if it you like, but it is not necessary.

Thanks

Georgina

[DMc]

In case you are a visual instruction type person.

1. After removing your Digital Certificate (Sim card looking chip) from the USB dongle, Insert small lever (strong pen) into the ejection tab. 
2. Carry the sim card to your shredder.
3. How to destroy your PEXA digital certificate.